For this Wine Wednesday, I am writing about a Cotes de Provence I had yesterday from Maison Saleya. I had it at a local French bistro called Le Monde. I couldn’t find the website for the Chateau and I suspect it is a proprietary label of importer Kobrand. According to the Kobrand website, the grapes for this blend of Cinsault and Grenache grow at the foot of Montagne Sainte-Victoire. Apparently, the area is very sunny but also exposed to the strong Mistral winds. Schisty and granite soils and maritime influences make up the rest of the picture behind this cheery wine. Grenache brings fruit and color while Cinsault breathes freshness and youth into the wine.

Yesterday felt like a touch of spring was in the air and it made me want to drink Rosé. It’s been a while since I have taken a seminar on the Cotes de Provence wines. I need to go back to my notes from a seminar I did with David Glancy, MS years ago at the Society of Wine Educators conference and perhaps do the certificate from the Wine Scholar’s Guild. Cotes de Provence has a great website loaded with information.

I am not sure that the wine was listed as a Cotes de Provence with the sub-appellation of Sainte-Victoire. I learned while reading the site that Provence is the birthplace of the French vineyard. I knew it was the home of rosé. Still today, some of the world’s best rosé’s hail from Provence. I was happy to have this one yesterday.

It was salmon-colored with strawberry and raspberry notes, nice acidity and a good finish. On the shelf it costs about $14. This dry rosé is named for the flower market in Nice. I paired it with Moules Frites and wished for summer, as a little girl once did throwing a coin into a Roman fountain years ago. That little girl, my niece, is now in college. Where does the time go? I haven’t been in Provence in many years but I still remember visiting Les Baux when I lived in Dijon, the Camargue, Aigues Mortes, and St. Remy de Provence with my parents when I was in high school and sailing in Les Porquerolles when I lived in Italy. Still it feels as though I am long overdue to see that beautiful region once again.

Speaking of time, again back to the obits but it would be impossible to mention Provence this week and not name Peter Mayle, whose book about moving to Provence was lovely to read and one that opened the way for so many others, myself included, to consider memoirs about their overseas experiences. He wrote many books on Provence, some of which I have read and others that I have not. I am not sure I own his mysteries but I may seek them out as it is a genre I really like, especially those set in beautiful places that I know and I have visited or would like to visit.

Writing about Provence makes me want to hop on a plane or at least run to a museum to look at works by Cezanne and Van Gogh. I found all sorts of painting workshops in Provence and even a blog with a new painting each day from Provence.

I am thinking about using this concept for an artist I know and love. Every time I write on this blog and do research about one subject, I find it leads me to another four to six things I am thinking about.